


Solving the Mystery of the Secret Valentine

by nerdy_bookworm_1998



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a fluffy ending, Enhanced Reader, F/M, Fluff, Past Child Abuse, Valentine's Day, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-23 03:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23004868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdy_bookworm_1998/pseuds/nerdy_bookworm_1998
Summary: Two months after Bucky finds out y/n is keeping secrets from him it all comes to a head when the compound is attacked, or is it?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Kudos: 47





	Solving the Mystery of the Secret Valentine

**Author's Note:**

> After all the amazing feedback I received for The Mystery of the Secret Santa, I decided to do a follow-up. This is that follow up. I know I am ridiculously late for Valentine's Day, and I'm very sorry for that. But hopefully this makes up for it.

It had been close to two months since Secret Santa had struck the compound and Bucky had overheard that fateful conversation between his girlfriend and Clint. Neither Bucky nor any of the other Avengers was any closer to finding the answers they sought.

On Valentine's Day, the sun dawned bright with nary a cloud in sight. Bucky had been planning on surprising y/n with a cozy breakfast in bed for just the two of them. However, when he woke to find the other side of the bed empty and cold, signaling that the other occupant had long since left the warm cocoon of blankets. He heaved a sigh and ran his hands through his hair frustratedly before getting up to start his day.

Throughout the compound, the other members of the team were waking to find bouquets of roses and sunflowers, boxes of their favorite chocolates, and small gifs befitting each person and their personalities. Once again they gathered at the kitchen table to try and figure out who their mystery gift-giver could be.

Just as they had decided to look through the security camera feed for the culprit, red emergency lights started flaring and Friday announced that someone was trying to breach the compound's security system.

In the lab, y/n was just finishing up a report when Bucky walked in, looking thoroughly fed up. "Y/N, we need to talk," his tone leaving no room for argument as he takes a seat across from her at the lab table. "I know that you're hiding something from me. Don't even try to deny it, I heard you and Clint talking on Christmas morning and ever since then, you've been distant, and not just from me, from the whole team. What could be so bad that you won't even tell me? I thought you loved me, that you trusted me," Bucky can't help how hurt he sounds, his face looking like a kicked puppy.

The moment she heard the phrase "we need to talk", y/n had stiffened in her chair, afraid that Bucky had somehow found out she was behind the gifts, but upon hearing the rest of his speech, her heart had plummeted to the floor. She quickly gets up from her chair and hurries around the table to take Bucky's hands in hers. "Oh, sweetheart. I do love you, with everything I am, and I trust you with my life," she cooed gently.

"But not with your secrets," the supersoldier scoffs, ripping his hands from her hold and pretending not to see the look of hurt cross her features.

"Bucky, the only reason why I haven't told you is that I've been waiting for the right time, and I know that once I do tell you, you're probably gonna look at me differently and I'm trying prepare my heart for that," she tries to explain as tears build in her eyes.

Before Bucky can answer the doors to the lab slid open and Clint strides in. "Y/N, we need your help. Someone tried to breach the compound, we've got him in interrogation now, but he refuses to talk. We need you to pull the answers from him," Clint speaks hurriedly.

"Clint, no. We talked about this. What about Wanda? Why can't she do it?" she says, her eyes widening in panic as Bucky's eyes narrow in suspicion, the very expression she never wanted to see aimed at her, breaking her heart and causing her throat to clog with unshed tears.

"She's still in Ireland with Vision, she won't be home till the end of the week. We don't have another choice y/n/n, it has to be you," Clint pleads with her.

"Fine, I'll, I'll do it, but only this once," she finally concedes after a moment of deliberation. She looks at Bucky, her expression begging him to understand. "We'll continue this conversation later, I promise to tell you everything you want to know after this," she says softly before following Clint out of the lab. "Do you have a list of questions I can use?" she asks as they step into the elevator.

She sits in one of the interrogation rooms with Steve and Natasha flanking her, the teenager that tried to breach the compound sat across from her and a metal table between them, Tony, Sam, and Bucky are behind the two-way glass, in the observation room. The girl looks to be fifteen, with pale skin and limp blonde hair, dressed in baggy black clothes.

"What's your name?" she thinks towards the girl.

"My name is Genevieve," she answers verbally in a soft voice.

"Why did you try to attack the compound, Genevieve?" she thinks, her mental voice soft but firm.

"I didn't, I was trying to seek refuge but no one will listen to me," Genevieve stutters out, tears filling her eyes and running down her cheeks.

"Trying to seek refuge from who?" y/n asks, her mental voice soothing.

"Hydra," she whispers.

"What did they do to you? Can you show me?" y/n asks cautiously. 

Across the table, Genevieve closes her eyes and lets her mind flood with images of men in white lab coats, the red emblem of Hydra embroidered on the lapels, all standing over her with various syringes, scalpels, and other tools. She shows her every bit of torture they had put her young body through, all the surgeries, beatings, and ill-treatment. She shows her how she had finally escaped. The memories end with her sneaking onto a bus bound for New York.

Y/n wrenches her eyes open with a gasp, a blinding headache building and bringing tears to her eyes as the ringing in her ears slowly subsides making her aware of all the screaming going on in the room. She must have fallen from her chair because she was laying on the floor, cradled in someone's arms. The glint of a metal arm and the warm smell of cologne tells her it's Bucky holding her, screaming at Genevieve to tell him what she had done to her before whispering in her ear to come back to him.

Slowly she pushes herself up enough to take in the room. She is indeed sitting on the floor, still cradled in Bucky's arms while Steve, Nat, Tony, and Sam crowd around Genevieve, who looks terrified with tears streaming down her eyes. "Guys...back...off..." she rasps out. "She didn't hurt me..." she promises and they slowly step away, but keep their eyes trained on the girl.

With Bucky's help, y/n slowly stands and walks towards Genevieve. She unlocks the cuffs around her wrists and pulls the younger girl into a warm, firm hug. "You're gonna be okay, you're safe now, no one is going to hurt you ever again, because if they do, they will answer to me, I promise," she whispers in the girl's ear, fully aware that the team could hear her.

"Thank you," Genevieve sobs into her shoulder, clinging as hard as she could in her current state.

After helping Genevieve to the residential wing to get cleaned up, get new clothes and some hot food, as well as grabbing some Tylenol for herself, y/n explains to the team exactly what she had seen. All of them were extremely pissed off, yet not entirely surprised that Hydra would do that to a young girl. They also voted to go take out the entire base as soon as they had an exact location, although they already knew that it was somewhere near New Orleans from the description y/n had given them.

Once the team dispersed to go try and locate the base and Genevieve had gone to her newly allocated room right across from y/n's own to get some well-deserved rest, the poor girl was exhausted, Bucky tugged y/n towards the couches in the common room, tucking her into his side and covering them both with a warm blanket. Y/N gives a soft sigh, snuggling as close to Bucky as possible, already knowing his silence was prompting her to talk. "What do you wanna know?" she asks.

"Whatever you're willing to tell me," he says softly before kissing the top of her head.

She takes a long moment to gather her thoughts before opening her mouth to begin telling her story. "I've been able to read minds for as long as I can remember. I used to get these really intense migraines that would leave me bed-ridden and vomiting for days on end because it was all just too much. Then when I was about ten, Charles Xavier found me. He offered me a place at Xavier's School for Gifted Children. He helped me learn how to control and improve what I can do. Most of the time it's all just a low hum in the back of my head like static on the radio until I choose to tune into a specific person's thoughts. Then I can communicate with them if I choose to, I can hear them as clearly as if they were speaking out loud. I can prod them in a certain direction if you want to call it that.

After I graduated at Xavier's I left the school, I asked the Professor not to tell anyone what I can do, I told him that I wanted to live as normal a life as I can. Then I got the job here, and I met all of you, and I built a life for myself. I'd been working here almost six months when Clint approached me one evening when I was working late and everyone else was either out on missions or had retired to their rooms. He told me he knew what I could do. At first, I was terrified that I had somehow slipped and answered someone's thoughts instead of their words, but then he explained to me that he was always in the vents or perched somewhere high because he sees better from a distance. He told me the tells I have when I'm listening to something others can't hear. He tried convincing me to tell the team, but I refused. When I told him my reasoning, he told me that he understood and he'd respect my decision, but he wasn't going to let it go.

A few months later, Christmas rolled around and I got an idea to use my ability for something good that would bring a little bit of joy to the compound. That's when I started being the compound's Secret Gift-giver. Every holiday, I leave gifts for everyone outside their doors and I never say anything about it because I don't want thanks, seeing the look on everyone's faces when they open the gifts is reward enough."

Bucky is silent for a long time after her speech, then he cautiously asks, "Have you ever read my mind or prodded it in a specific direction?"

This makes her pull back slightly, just enough to see his face. "No Bucky, I've never read it on purpose. And I've never prodded it in a specific direction while you're awake," she says seriously.

"Oh, okay. Wait, what do you mean not while I'm awake?" he asks confused.

"I can feel the general tone of a person's thoughts, even their dreams, so I can feel when you're having nightmares, then I prod your dreams into something more restful and relaxing, not a specific dream, that your subconscious decides for itself, I just set the general tone," she explains while wringing her hands together.

"That's why I've been sleeping so well since I came to the compound?" he asks.

She silently nods, looking down at the hands in her lap. Bucky startles her by pulling her into a soft kiss and enveloping her in his arms. When he pulls away a long time later, he rests his forehead against hers. "Thank you, sweetheart, I love you so much," he whispers.

"You're welcome, love, I love you too," she whispers back.

"I have one last question though," he says seriously as he pulls away completely, going to kneel on one knee before the couch. "Y/N Y/L/N, light of my life and angel of my heart, will you give me the extraordinary honor of loving you every day for the rest of my days? Will you marry me?" he asks as he pulls the ring from his pocket.

Y/N's eyes are filled with tears as she exclaims excitedly, "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!" while he slides the ring onto her finger, it's a perfect fit.

"It used to be my ma's, Stevie got it for me from the Smithsonian when I told him I was gonna ask you," he explains as they both admire how perfectly it fits her hand.

"I love it. And I love you, James Buchannan Barnes," she smiles as she draws him closer for a tender kiss.

"It's about time!" Clint exclaims from the doorway where he and the rest of the team stand with tears in their eyes at their friends finally getting their happily ever after.


End file.
